The Elemental Heroes
by FIRECLAW23
Summary: This the first installment in my series. Please review. P.S. This story has already been published, under FROSTFANG99, he is me, i have to use this file because there was a bug in the old one. So this is the one i am using. I own all these characters and the storyline, but i got inspiration from The Skulduggery Pleasant Books. Thanks
1. A New Evil

**The Elemental Heroes**

It was a dark and stormy night. The man landed with a thud that would make any normal man cry out with pain. But this man was anything but normal. He rolled to his feet with his palm pointed towards the never-ending darkness as if trying to ward it off. Sure that there was nothing in the shadows he lowered his hand. He then pointed his hand towards the ground and screwed up his face like he was concentrating really hard. After 5 seconds he gasped and relaxed his face. He allowed himself a 10 second break before trying again. After 10 seconds the air around him rippled and he began to rise slowly of the ground. He relaxed his face as he gained an altitude of 5 metres. He angled his body until he was lying down in the air. He motioned his hands and the air rippled once again and he shot forward. Behind a howl pierced the silence. The man panicked. They were getting closer. His panic caused him to lose his concentration and he began to plummet towards the earth.

He screwed up his face and pushed hands forward. The air rippled again and he shot forward. He angled his body upright and landed softly. He heard a sound and turned his hand poised. He concentrated and slowly the air around his hands rippled and swirled until there was a mini cyclone swirling around his hand. He screwed his face up again and it grew bigger until it was as big as his whole body. Out of the darkness 3 figures, wrapped in dark clothing emerged out of the darkness like they were the darkness itself.

"Thorn", said the man, the contempt evident in his voice "I was wondering when you would show up to kill me". "Oh get real Jonas," said the man who had just emerged out of the darkness "if I wanted to kill you then you would already be dead, I am only here to capture you, so stop trying to run away and you will make my job a whole lot easier". "Not today" said Jonas, and threw his mini cyclone, now as big as the front of a bus, right at the 3 of them. Thorn's goons screamed as they were hurled away, but somehow Thorn managed to keep his feet on the ground. In return Thorn drew a dagger from his belt and shouted "ATTACK". From the darkness more people clad in black armour emerged, drew their swords, whipped them around their heads as darkness swirled around their swords. Then they pushed the swords forward and little spears of darkness flew out of them. Jonas summoned the air around him and it became a super-hard shield and all the spears of darkness bounced off. In return Jonas threw out his arms and all the goons flew back and crashed into the wall. Jonas was preparing to attack again when he let out a strangled cry and fell to the earth. Thorn stood behind him with his dagger poised to attack again. But it was unnecessary as Jonas landed flat on his face in the muddy ground. "He is not dead yet so pick him up". Thorn yelled at his goons. Jonas screwed up his face and pointed his hand towards the sky. A little yellow orb of light flew out of his finger and spiralled into the dark night sky. "Let us hope that they get the message and come to help us" he said to no one in particular. And that was the last thing that he said before falling unconscious into the stretcher that he had been placed onto.


	2. A New Hero

Chapter 1

"Jake...Jake...JAKE! What are you still doing in bed? Hurry up and get out of bed or you'll be late for school". His mum cried out.

I want to miss school, Jake thought to himself.

"Jake, if you don't appear down here in the next five minutes then you aren't going to Will's birthday party on Sunday."

Better get up and get down there otherwise mom with blow her head off screaming and we wouldn't want that to happen, Jake said to himself

Jake pulled the covers off of him and winced as his feet touched the cold floor. He shouted back to his mom "COMING!" He got dressed, pulled on his boots, brushed his teeth and ran down the stairs. Mom was in the kitchen putting a bit of butter on some bread.

"Finally", she said.

"Hey, at least I'm awake".

"Fine, you win, just take this piece of bread and get out of here. Jake took the bread and sped out of the house.

"Thanks mom", he shouted out after her. Waiting at the gate for him was his friend William. "About time" he said.

"Shut up" said Jake, "that has been said to me too much this morning and it's getting kind of repetitive. He grabbed William by the shoulder and dragged him off.

Fifteen minutes later Jake and William arrived at the school. They walked through the school gates and pushed passed a bunch of boys when Jake saw something strange. Behind a rubbish bin there was a man standing, with hands tucked into the sleeves of his white robes. "He looks older than my grandfather and you know my old pops is positively ancient", said Jake to William.

If Jake wanted a laugh from William, then he was going to be disappointed. Because William just looked confused as he looked around to try and see the man that Jake was talking about. He looked back at Jake and said "I don't see anybody of that description." Jake tore his eyes away from the old man and said "really, you don't see the old man in the white robe with the really long beard with his hands tucked into his sleeves, then you really need to get your eyes checked." When Jake looked back, the old man was gone.

The bell rang for homeroom and William and Jake headed off to Room 44. Jake groaned, now he had to spend a whole six hours at school and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Periods one, two, recess, three and four had passed by in a blur. But Jake could not stop thinking about the old man who had stood next to the rubbish bin. When William asked what was wrong when Jake didn't answer his questions, Jake simply answered "The old man that was standing next to the rubbish bin, I wonder how he could have disapreared into thin air like that. That is what I am thinking about." William just sighed and gave him the answer "Jake, I hate to break it to you, but you are probably just seeing things." Jake would just with a shrug of his shoulders and a distant "Maybe." Now Jake was standing in the lunch line waiting to buy a yummy hot dog when William said "Uh oh, here comes trouble."

Jake looked back and there was indeed trouble. Tiny was striding up the hills that lead to the canteen. As usual he was flanked by his entourage of goons that were shoving people out of the way if they got too close. Tiny strode right by Jake and shoved him out of the way.

"Hey", yelled Jake "What is your problem?"

Tiny stopped and looked back. "Hey Jake, you still sore from that hiding I gave you last week".

Jake looked around at all the people watching and caught his breath. Standing 10 metres away was the girl of his dreams. Angela was standing with her group of friends. She had long blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes, perfectly lined lips and a slim and athletic body. To sum up all of Angela's features Jake would say she was "super hot". Although he liked her, Jake knew that she would never be his girlfriend because there were dozens of boys who liked her, boys who were much better looking, more athletic and funnier than Jake himself was.

Jake's jaw clenched and the thought of Angela watching him while he got his butt smashed off by Tiny filled him with dread. Tiny's entourage laughed and slapped Tiny on the back. All of a sudden a whisper filled the air. Tiny and his friends laughed on as if nothing had happened. In fact, Jake was the only one who could hear it. He whipped around and saw the old man from that morning.

"Jake", the old man whispered "let the airs fill your palm and he shall trouble you no more". Jake shrugged and thought that it is the only thing he could do so he might as well give it a try. He turned back to Tiny and raised his palm.

Tiny recoiled in mock horror. "Oh please don't zap me oh great Harry Potter, I will trouble you no more". He doubled over again and continued laughing. Jake was filled with anger. Still laughing Tiny managed to wheeze "GET HIM".

He took in a breath and thrust out his palm, expecting something great and magical to happen, and then...nothing happened. He looked at his hand in disbelief, but he had no time to try again as Tiny's goons had surrounded him and started throwing in punches. A right hook thrown by the biggest of Tiny's goons sent him stumbling away. He was filled rage and he turned and punched, but the punch bounced of the boy's solid torso. A lighting fast jab to the stomach sent him staggering away, gasping for breath. He took in a deep breath and suddenly, his vision cleared, his lungs were full of fresh air and he felt within his muscles a power that he had never felt before.

He straightened and turned, and suddenly, there was a massive fist coming towards his face. He turned to one side, faster than he ever had before and grabbed the massive fist as it hurtled by his face. He then swung around and used the boy as a bowling ball, bashing aside all the other boys. He then let go and the boy who he had grabbed went spinning into Tiny himself, knocking him back.

A huge, collective gasp went up from the onlookers as they saw Jake use the boy as a bowling ball against the others and then launch the terrified kid into Tiny himself.

Tiny's goons picked themselves up and rejoined their leader.

Again, Tiny ordered his goons to charge and charge was what they did.

Jake took in a deep breath, held out his hand, and pushed at the air. This time he felt a little resistance in the empty air.

A moment later, something mighty and powerful slammed into Tiny's goons and sent them hurtling back. Once again, a gasp was torn from the throats of the onlookers as Tiny's goons spiralled away from the site of the brawl. They had all expected Jake to be crushed under the onslaught of Tiny's biggest and meanest goons.

Tiny had to duck to avoid being hit by his goons. His eyes filled with anger, he straightened and charged.

Normally, if Tiny was charging at you are supposed to turn and run, but Jake stood his ground. Once again he lifted his hand and sent the air flying out and Tiny was sent flying back.

After that Jake, his hand still raised, pulled at the air and Tiny shot out. He kept Tiny suspended above ground, slowly rotating his wrist. Then he spun around like a person doing discus and launched Tiny into the air. Tiny's screams still echoed and finally stopped with a massive thump.

Everyone ran to Tiny and looked to see if he was still alive. Then as one they turned back to Jake and started asking a million questions at once.

Jake stared at his palm in disbelief. He saw two teachers walking his way their faces still filled with anger and disbelief. He didn't yet believe what he had just done but he did know one thing, which was that he had just attacked a fellow student and he was probably going to get a suspension. He stood there and pondered on what he was going to do.

The teachers were 10 paces away when he finally made his decision. The teachers were 5 paces away when Jake put his plan into motion. They were 2 paces away when a blur entered their vision. They spun around to see Jake shooting away from them. They gave out a shout each for him to stop but he just kept on going. They gave chase but after a few paces they gave up, perfectly aware that Jake was one of the fastest runners in the school. They let him rocket away into the distance.

Jake kept running and only stopped when he reached his secret hiding spot. He was perfectly sure that he had left everyone behind until he heard panting. He drew himself up into a corner but relaxed when he heard Williams voice.

"Come on out Jake, I can see you hiding behind that hole in the wall", he said. After a sigh Jake rose out of his hole and gave a little groan.

"How did you find me here?"

He said "Oh come on Jake, we have been friends since year 3, I am sure you know my special abilities"

Jake groaned, "I forgot that you could move extremely quiet when you want to, oh and you have excellent eyesight."

"Exactly, all I did when you used to come here was follow you and when you did that thing with the air I was sure that you were going to run over to this place", said William with a smile.

Suddenly, William's smile vanished, "Now, I would like to introduce you to the Principal of this fine school."

Jake tensed and got ready to run but a voice said "Do not try to run away we will catch you anyway so save us the bother and come with me to my office."

Jake moved out of the shadows and confronted the school principal "Why should I come with you to your office, I was only acting in self defence. If you really have an anti-bullying policy then this would never have happened."

"Please Jake", William said "Just make this easier on yourself and do as he says otherwise you life will become really tough for you and me.'

"Fine, just make it quick I want to be out of these gates by the time school ends."

"I am not going to promise anything, son", replies the Principal.

Later that day Jake got detention for a month and the principal said that a letter was going to be sent to his parents sometime in the next couple of days.

"Oh no!" groaned Jake "when mom hears what I have done she will freak out".

"I agree", said William, "you are in deep trouble".

"Just shut up will you", replied Jake, and stormed off.


	3. The Start of Something Different

Chapter 2

The time in the Principal's office passed in a blur. Before he knew it Jake was walking back along the very path that he was on when he had summoned the air and defeated Tiny. He heard a shout and turned. It was Will.

"Hey Jake wait up", Will exclaimed.

"What do you want", replied Jake gruffly.

Will was stunned by this answer "I thought we were friends"

"Well", Jake said dryly "we were friends until you decided to betray me to that idiot of a principal."

Will was yet again stunned by Jake's answer. "But Jake, he was only trying to do the right thing."

"Trying to do the right thing", Jake scoffed, "Tiny didn't even get in trouble, I was blamed for the entire thing. Apparently if I didn't anger Tiny in the first place, this never would have started. He was the one who pushed me, and when he sent his goons at me I only acted in self defence."

"Jake, look", William began.

"I don't want to hear it", Jake shouted, "I was wrongly accused of something I didn't do so don't try to tell me that I am wrong."

After saying this Jake stalked away on the path he usually took to get back home. William could see the fury written on every line of Jake's body and knew that if he followed, Jake would summon that power and sent him flying into the oncoming traffic. So instead of following he just stood there and watched as his ex-friend was slowly lost from sight. He stood there for 5 minutes after Jake's form had vanished into the distance. Then he put his body in motion, turned around and walked around the long way. He would end up on the same road as Jake would walk in but it will take 20 minutes to do so and by the time he reached that road Jake would be in his own home doing his schoolwork, sleeping or watching TV.

Jake arrived at his house 15 minutes after the argument with Will.

His mother saw him as he walked up the stairs and shouted up "how was school." When Jake didn't answer she tried a different question "Where is William, don't you guys usually do your homework together on Wednesdays."

"William had to go home early", Jake replied.

Jake's mother opened her mouth to speak then pondered that decision shut it. If Jake wanted to tell him something then he will tell her in his own time.

Jake continued walking up the steps when he reached the top he turned left and looked at a door marked Will and Jake's room "DO NOT ENTER". Underneath the "DO NOT ENTER" was a small note written by Will "IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES"

A small smile entered Jake's face but faded away at the thought of Will. Sighing he turned back the way he came and entered his own room. He collapsed onto his bed and snuggled under the covers. 5 minutes later he fell asleep.

He woke 30 minutes later to the sound of his ringing phone. He flipped up its cover and looked at who was calling him. He groaned as he made out the name "WILLIAM". He hesitated and after a moments pondering he touched the answer button. He put the phone to his ear. "JAKE", William's voice sounded urgent and strained. "What is it Will," Jake answered. "There are some scary men in black armour with some very sharp weapons who are asking where you are." Immediately, Jake was on his feet and fumbling around for his clothes. "What do you mean?" He asked. "I was walking along Jacobsen Avenue, when I was knocked to the ground by something. I think I was knocked out for a few seconds. Anyway, when I came to, all these guys had surrounded me and were looking down at me. One of them, a big tall guy, asked me in a raspy voice that sounded like his voice box had been smashed and cut "Do you know where Jake Vainer is." I was about to say that I had never heard of anyone by that name when he added, "don't lie, we know if you are lying to us, and if we find out that you are then you will join these people." Then he stepped aside to reveal half-a-dozen corpses." William's voice sounded shaky now. "Jake, you don't understand, it looks like they were tortured to death; they had been bled almost white. It was terrible." "Its ok William, I'm calling the police now, and it's ok."

Jake was already out of his house and sprinting down the road to get to Jacobsen Avenue. He was hoping that he or the police would be able to get there in time.

Then a terrible thought occurred to Jake. "Wait a minute. If they had captured you, then how have you taken the time to call me?" Even as he said this, a terrible thought popped into Jake's mind. No, he thought, William would not betray me to save his own skin... or would he. William's next words confirmed Jake's worst fears. "Because they have trapped me and are pointing their weapons at my throat, promising a slow and painful death if I do not co-operate with them." Jake slowed to a sudden stop and hesitated what to do next. His mind was made up for him when he heard sirens.

A police car pulled up in front of him. "He is just through here." An officer came up to him and said "were you the one who made the call." "Yes I was." Jake replied. "He is just through here, down Jacobsen Avenue." Thank you young sir, if you could just go back to your home, we will report once the job is done." He didn't even wait for a response; he just headed into the darkness. But Jake thought to himself, stuff that, I'm not waiting out here. He made sure nobody was watching, hurried over to a pile of bricks, picked up one, and used it to smash the window of the car. He opened the door and climbed inside. He opened the glove box and looked inside. He found it right away. A Glock 23 was nestled under some papers. Jake was no stranger to firearms as his late father had taken him to some firing rangers. He had practically fired every type of sidearm and rifle there was. He had even fired a 12-gauge shotgun. He took it out and put it in his jacket pocket. He then closed the door and got ready to leave. As he was about to move into the alley, a female voice echoed through the car. It said "an explosion was reported to us 5 minutes ago in a house on Walter Road. We suspect that it was in the nature of a terrorist attack. A witness saw two men in black carry a woman out of the burning house but they have since disappeared. Can all available units please respond and head for Walter Road." Jake paid no heed to the call for help and headed into the dark alleyway.

When Jake reached the site of the battle, he gagged and turned away. A dozen police officers were already dead. Their bodies littered along the floor. Only 5 officers remained. These survivors were hiding behind quickly made barricades. As Jake watched, some of the men in black threw black shapes from their weapons, sending the barricades flying. A police officer was sent skidding along the floor. He groaned and lifted his head. One of the black soldiers noticed and whipped his sword. The blade seemed to collect the shadows as it sailed through the air. He then thrust it forward and the shadows hit a fridge that was lying randomly around on its side. The fridge flew through the air and headed right for the police officer, who screamed.

The fridge landed on the police officers head and there was a sickening crunch and slowly, the officers struggles lessened and his cries faded until he was just a corpse, lying on the ground, his muscles giving a twitch every now and then as his nervous system shut down. There was an ominous red stain spreading around the place where the officer's head had been pinned down.

When Jake saw this, the felt bile rise up in his throat and tears ran down his face, as he thought of the human who had just lost his life. Jake saw 3 men pick an unconscious William up off the floor and out of sight. Jake took his pistol out of his pocket, flicked of the safety and shot the gun into the men in black. None of the bullets made a connection. They were all on target but just before they made contact, the shadows would rise out of the ground and intercept the bullets. Jake fired the gun empty and then tossed it aside. He heard a movement and spun.

Standing behind him was a man clad completely in black armour. Jake thrust his fist but it was caught and he was thrown against the wall. He scrambled to his feet. When he remembered what had happened this afternoon. He felt the cool air beneath his palm. When the black soldier charged, he pushed downwards and he shot into the air. He spun mid air and pushed against the air again. The black soldier was smashed up against the wall with such a force that it left a crack in the wall. The black-clad man slid to the floor, leaving a red stain on the wall behind him.

Jake then heard a clap from behind him and he spun. A black-clad man stood there. But the black material was not pulsing and shifting. It was more like a piece of clothing that was made of black fabric. The man said, "Never have I seen a newbie kill a Necromancer on his or her first day of power." Jake stared. Then he noticed something moving behind him and shouted "GET DOWN." The man just looked at Jake and then laughed. "It's all right little mate, they are on our side." He then turned and said "Knights, show yourselves."

A dozen men came out of the shadows. But as they detached from the shadows, Jake became aware that they were in the wrong era. For they were clad in complete medieval plate armour, the colour was a dull silver. They were a little over two metres tall, and strapped to their backs was a massive medieval broadsword, that was a roughly 1 and a half metres long. It was as wide as a toddler and had the sharpest blade that Jake had ever seen.

Their heads were covered in helmets that looked like they were from the crusades, but the rest was medieval plate armour. As Jake took a closer look, he realised that the shields that they carried were attached to their gauntlets, which means that they can't lose their shield unless their entire gauntlet is ripped off.

He turned the man in black and said "what are they called." The man looked back at him and responded. "They are called Knights. They are our soldiers, and the bulk of out army."

Jake looked at the men clad in the plate armour and said "wow, if you guys have an army like this, then you must be pretty unstoppable." But the man just laughed and responded. "You'd be surprised how many defeats that we have suffered in the past few years, with the uprising of the Necromancers and some unknown foe that keeps killing our troops and destroying our outposts." His expression had gone from happy to frustrated and angry in a second.

Jake peered over the edge and saw that only 3 of the officers were still alive. The latest death was an officer in his late 20's. He had spun from cover to try and get of another shot, but a Necromancer had recognised the pattern as was ready with a blast of shadows. The next time the officer had popped out, the Necromancer had sent the shadows spiralling across in a slashing motion. The shadows had gone up his belly, drawing a long, deep cut. Then the man's guts hah spilled across the floor. Then he had toppled backwards, crashed to the floor and lay still.

Jake lunged across the rooftop and threw up in a bin. The strange man looked on sympathetically and said "did another officer die." Jake nodded, still feeling sick. Then the man straightened and the look on his face changed from sympathetic to determined. Then he said in a loud, proud voice, "Then I guess we had better get to work. Knights, follow me."

Halfway to the roof, the man stopped, but the Knights kept going jumping of the roof and into the battle, drawing swords as they did so. He turned and as if it was only an afterthought, said. "By the way, I would check up on your house and your mum." Jake wondered why when it hit him. His mind flashed back to the call for help as he was searching for the gun. He recalled the lady saying that there was an explosion in the house on Walter Avenue. Jake's house was on Walter Avenue. "You might need this." Jake turned as a gun clattered to the floor. It was an old Smith and Wesson .44. "Why the hell would I need this." "To get your mum back of course", the man replied. He turned and threw a glance back at Jake and shouted "Good luck kid, you'll need it." He then turned around and suddenly, his hand blazed with a white hot fire. He then yelled "GET THEM". Then he leapt of the building.

Jake could no longer spare any thoughts towards the strange man, those Knights and the Necromancers. His heart and mind filled with one simple sentence. _Must help Mum, Must help Mum, Must help Mum, please Lord, let me get there in time._


	4. The Scene of The Invasion

Chapter 3

Jake raced around the corner that he crosses everyday to be faced with a horrifying sight. His home, the place that he had lived in for 16 years, where the police officers had arrived at his door, telling him that his father had been murdered, was burning.

He stopped and stared at the burning building and found that he was physically and emotionally reeling. Then he gathered his wits about him and thought, thinking about it will not help mum. Then he charged.

Jake reached the site of the fire. He took in a deep breath and moved into the front yard, holding a hand to his mouth so that he did not breathe in the poisonous fumes that were wafting around the yard. He moved to the front door. He steeled himself and kicked it open, the old .44 Smith and Wesson in his hands. He had not gone 3 paces when he found that he could not take a single step further, or he would risk being consumed by flames. He took several startled steps backwards before realising that he had to do this. His mum's life may depend on whether he could make his way through several metres of unnatural black flame. Then he got an idea.

He remembered what had happened earlier in the day. He retreated to a position where the dark smog was thinner, inhaled deeply and splayed his hands. The air rippled and suddenly, the smog and the black flame were pushed to one side, creating a walkway that led to the stairs. He walked along his self-made catwalk, scanning the area with the borrowed gun. He reached the charred and blackened stairs and slowly and cautiously began to climb them.

As he reached the top of the stairs, occasionally using his powers to clears the smog and flame, he began to notice that, there was a brief battle here. There were deep slashed in the walls and there was a rolling pin lying on the floor, bent out of shape and charred. Jake realised that it was the rolling pin that his mother had used when she was cooking and when she was threatening Jake to do something. Embedded in the wall a few metres away, was a large kitchen knife, blood covering the blade. Jake gulped, and desperately hoped that the blood on the blade was not his mothers, but the stranger that had invaded the attack. Jake soon found out.

He rounded the corner to his mother's bedroom and saw a body lying on the floor. As he got closer, waving his hand to clear the air of smoke, he saw that it was a soldier, one similar to the men that had captured William and had killed the police officers. His throat had been slashed. Jake was overcome with confusion. He thought to himself, my mother would have never purposely taken a life unless she was thought to do it. Then he remembered that his mother's hand had been forced. He pictured the scene in his mind. He guessed that his mother had snuck out of the bedroom, with the roller in her hand, struck the man in the back of the hand, and slit his throat with the knife. After he was lying dead on the floor, she would have been paralysed by what she had just done. Jake knew this because whenever she had given him a beating or got into an argument, she would usually freeze up. So then, another man had come up behind her and struck her down, and as he did so, stepping into the pool of blood that was rapidly spreading from his comrade's throat.

Jake followed the bloody footsteps to the window of his mother's bedroom. When he arrived, he discovered that the window had been smashed. As Jake made a closer investigation, he saw that there was some blood on the window. He hurried over to the sill and swiped the blood with his finger. It came off easily and he noted that it was still wet. He peered over the window sill and saw that 2 men in the black uniforms were dragging around a woman while another two stood to one side, and even from where he was leaning, Jake could see that they were arguing. His gaze was filled with anger when he saw that it was his mom.

Jake slowly took out the Smith and Wesson from the pocket in his jacket, levelled it and was about to pull the trigger when a thought struck him. _What if I miss, or what if the shadows deflect the bullet, I'll be spotted and those men could easily strike me down from here. _Jake then weighed up the options and decided that he was willing to risk it if it meant that his mother might have time to get away. Jake levelled the gun at the man took a deep breath and pulled the trigger once, then pulled it a second time, then a third and finally a fourth.

As Jake watched, one of the men that had been standing next to the entrance to the dark alley suddenly threw up his hands and fell to the floor. Jake frowned, and thought, _the shadows had risen up, but the bullet passed through it like it was just a cloud of smoke. Unlike the others, which had been deflected like they had been aimed at a brick wall. Interesting. _

Jake now returned his gaze to the other men. The other man that had been arguing had quicker reflexes and he knew that there would be a bullet speeding towards him. He quickly threw himself against the ground and felt the bullet whistling over his head. Jake saw him shout to the one other surviving man to get the woman and to follow him. Then Jake saw him turn and release a wave of shadows that slammed into Jake and blasted him against the wall. By the time he had recovered and moved back to the window sill, the two men were gone.

Jake peered over the edge of the window sill and lost his breath. He had never thought about how high his home was, but now that he noticed, he realised it was at least 15 metres away from the ground. He thought, _if the air can be used to push off the ground, can it help reduce the impact of a person hitting the ground. _He moved away from the window sill, pushed his hands against the air and the rubble was ripped away from the wall and sent flying out of the house. Before he could change his mind, Jake began his run-up and flung himself out of the hole in the wall.

He hurtled out into empty space, screaming with the thrill of the ride, before he realised what he needed to do. He pushed at the ground, but nothing happened. With the ground less than 8 metres away, he pushed again, but yet again, nothing happened. With 5 metres to go, he steeled himself. With 4 metres to go, he readied his hands for the push. With 2 metres to go, he shoved, imagining the air as a solid block of metal. The air shimmered and hit and ground, rebounding and hitting Jake, slowing his fall by a tiny fraction. But that tiny fraction was enough, when he hit the ground, he rebounded 10 centimetres and rolled away, groaning in agony as he felt a razor sharp pain in his chest. He figured that he had bruised a few of his ribs. He just clenched his teeth against the pain and picked himself up, groaning and whining would not help his mum. He started hobbling/running in the direction that the men in black had taken and hoped that he would get there in time.

He rounded the corner, almost blinded with the pain in his ribs and gasped. This was because a several men in black were standing there, the shadows spiralling around their armour. The one in the middle noticed who it was and smiled, before commenting. "Ah, Jake Vainer, I have been looking all over for you. I had hoped that taking your mother hostage and destroying your house would be enough to convince you to come and face us, and eventually, you will join us." Jake's face was clouded with anger and the responded, the deep, dark rage building up from the most powerful part of his body.

"You are the one who knocked my mother senseless and destroyed my house." "Well of course, after all, we had to find a way, and we did, as we always do" Jake was now viewing the world with a red haze as his anger builded, until he felt that he could blow himself into tiny pieces. He said through gritted teeth. "You came into my life, took away my house, my mother and my best friend, and now you want me to join you. You might as well try to take a stroll through hell if that's what you want me to do. So is there anything else or you might like to leave before I REDUCE YOU ALL TO PATHETIC CHARRED HUSKS WITH THEIR HEADS RIPPED OFF." He was shouting now, goaded beyond control as he cursed these men with the deepest, blackest part of his soul. He let out a scream or pure rage and pain and thrust his hands out just like in the early afternoon, when he was fighting Tiny and his self-made army, except this time, it contained much more power, like a hurricane wind. Everyone and everything in the vicinity, except somehow his mother, was thrown against the wall, so hard and forcefully, that the wall shattered. He spared them no more thought as he ran over to his mother.

He collapsed by her side, she was unconscious, but, despite all the horror she had witnessed in the past 1 hour, her face was peaceful, almost amused, just like she was asleep and she was having a pleasant dream. He shook her, yelled at her, and even, which Jake was embarrassed to admit, slapped her. But there was no response. Suddenly a solid slab of darkness slammed into his jaw and he was launched backwards into air. His vision went black for quite some time.


	5. The Battle and A Big Choice

Chapter 3

Part 2

When he regained his sight, the 3 men were standing over him, smiling triumphantly. Jake raised a hand and cried for mercy, lifting his hand, desperately asking to change sides if it meant that he could live. The leader hesitated and wondered if he could still accept him. He sighed and lifted the boy to his feet, but made sure that his sword was in his hand and his men still had their weapons ready. Suddenly, the boy twisted and snapped his palm, sending the men flying. Then Jake said, "I will never change sides, even if it means death." Then the man climbed back to his feet and started to say, "Boy, I will rip you to pie-." Suddenly a fireball the size of a human head slammed into him sending spinning, screaming in pain, and his body burning with a white hot flame. He careened into the side of a building, still screaming. His body was giving off a stench that smelt like rotten meat crossed with rotten eggs. Then suddenly, to one side, the shadows twirled and convened, becoming a thick cloud of smog, which soon parted to admit a man, who stepped out and casually dusted of his clothes. He looked at the scene unfolding and walked up to the man who had been set on fire, doused the flames with a blast of shadows, only to look into his eyes and stab him in the throat with his dagger.

The poor man on his knees gagged as the blade punched through his Adams Apple. The newcomer withdrew his blade and sheathed it simply by dissolving it into shadows. He then kicked the dying man to the floor and addressed him saying, the contempt on his face "failure." The man then straightened and turned and addressed Jake as though they had both been on a pleasant stroll in the park and simply by chance, bumped into each other in the process. He said, in quite a lively tone, "why, you MUST be Jake Vainer, the newest air elemental on the block. We have an air elemental under our custody, he doesn't say much but he is quite a wilful fellow, for he has not told us anything about your forces and hideout, even when we apply the most painful of tortures. I am suitably impressed."

The fire-throwing man stepped forward now and addressed the newcomer, "you mean Jonas, and he disappeared 2 weeks ago. You have him. That means that you had better give him back, or we are going to march up to your front gates, smash them over and rip apart you headquarters until we find him and your other captives. Now, I don't know who you are, but you might want to tell us, or we WILL kill you." The shadow man just looked at him, and for the first time, a look of anger crossed his features. He looked at Jake's companion and said "I don't know who you, but you just made a big mistake." He then waved his hand and the shadows whipped around him, then shot forward, grabbed him, lifted him up, whirled him around the remaining Necromancer's head, and then threw him to the ground. He hit the floor with a yelp, but was soon back on his feet, fire flaring in his hands.

He deflected a blast of shadows aimed at his feet by blasting them with fire to dissipate them. Then quick as anything, slid to one side to dodge a thrust of razor-sharp shadow. He then extinguished the flame in his hands and drew his sword. He then set the blade on fire as he parried away the shadow blasts aimed at his body. Then, when the man seemed to be out of energy, he thrust the sword forward, and a jet of flame shot forward, twirling and twisting in the air.

At the very last moment, the man in black summoned a shield of shadows that deflected the flames. They licked fiercely over the edge of his shield and danced dangerously close to his body, but he didn't flinch ever as the sparks landed on his amour. Finally, the blast of flame cut out and he stood, laughing, and mocked Jake's ally saying "is that all you've got, Thomas. If it is, then you really should not have come alone" Jake looked at his ally, who he now knew to be Thomas, who looked back at him worried, his expression saying, _how come he knows my name, and your name, but you and I don't know who he is, who he works for and what he wants with you. _Jake could only look back and shrug his shoulders.

Then he returned his attention to the man. Then Thomas spoke up saying, "firstly, who are you, secondly, what do you want with Jake here, and thirdly, and this is the most important, who the hell said that I came alone." The man opened his mouth to laugh or speak, but whatever he was going to so was lost forever as he sensed movement behind him he turned around to see 3 figures drop from the sky, landing in a half-circle around him. The one in the middle spoke, in a loud, clear voice, "man, I don't know who you are, but you have just assaulted an investigator and launched an attack against the mortal police, therefore, you have been sentenced to death."

But even as the leader of the reinforcements spoke, the Necromancer just laughed and spoke in a mocking and defiant tone. "You know, I wonder how many of your precious investigators I have killed in my lifetime. The numbers 50 to 75 are pretty close to the mark. Most of those kills have been when I was outnumbered. The odds have usually been around 3 to 1." This was clearly a bad thing as all 4 of the Investigators looked shocked. "Why, do you look so surprised?" Mocked the Necromancer, clearly enjoying the horrified looks on the faces of Jake's allies. "Did you think that ALL the Necromancers were cowards who assassinate people from the cover of darkness? No, some of us are formidable warriors, capable of fighting and defeating you forces when outnumbered and sometimes out gunned."

As soon as he said this, he spun, using the shadows to bash away the woman on the left. He then pirouetted on his right heel and thrust his hand forth, smashing away the man on the right, who had tightened his hands around him and summoned the shadows. The Necromancer's face had tightened in fury as he identified the man on the right. "You pathetic little traitor, How dare you betray your order to fools like these." The rouge Necromancer spat blood and responded "my order did not do jack shit for me, all I ever did was follow orders and nearly got myself killed multiple times. I figured that these people would take better care of me, and you know what, they are. All these people who you call 'pathetic fools' are in fact, admirable people."

The man in the centre sprang forward, so fast that the necromancer never had time to react. The centre man hit him so hard and fast that he was flung across the alley space. The centre man reared up and slammed his fists into the ground so hard they cracked. Then the ground itself cracked until it reached the man, who was slumped against the wall. A fist from the ground exploded up and slammed him so hard he sailed 10 metres into the air. He had not even reached the ground before Thomas' hands flared with fire and he threw both fireballs. They slammed into the Necromancer and set him instantly on fire. He hit the ground screaming in pain.

The woman had recovered and climbed to her feet. She thrust out her hands and lighting crackled, flew out and slammed into the man, upping the intensity of his screams. Jake decided to do his part and thrust out his hands. The air shimmered and hit the Necromancer, flinging him across the space provided he hit the floor with a yelp rolling on the floor. He just managed to avoid the blast of shadows sent at him by the rouge Necromancer.

All 4 of the Investigators, plus Jake stood in a half-circle around the wounded Necromancer. They made quick introductions. The Necromancer's name was Raven. The big guy commanded the Element of earth. His name was Sal. The woman who commanded the Element of Electricity was called Lorinna. He was told there was another member of their team, a woman who commanded the Element of Water, who went by the name Lixa. "She is battle trained", explained Sal, "but she was so horrified by the killing and horror of a battle, that she decided to become the team's operator, giving us satellite guidance and information about our target. She is basically our computer expert and navigation system." So you lost your mum." Said Lorinna sympathetically. "That's a shame, I knew Katherine, and she was a great soldier." Before Jake had a chance to ask what she meant, The Necromancer woke up.

Sal got right to business. "Who are you, why are interested in Jake Vainer, what are your future aims...ANSWER ME" The Necromancer looked up at Sal, contempt is his face, then spat blood in Sal's face and answered. "My name is Thorn, and you will never see us coming." With that, he threw a wave of shadows that sent everyone flying and stood. He summoned the shadows around him and disappeared. Jake and everyone else stood up and he joined them in cursing at Thorn.

"Jake", said Thomas. "You are now faced with a choice. You can either

a) You can leave saving your mum up to us. But we will take your powers away and you will be under constant surveillance, but at least you can live a full and happy life

OR

b) Come with us, learn how to use your powers and help us fight evil. But your life will be under threat at all times. You can also help save your mum.

Jake looked at Thomas, and then at the land that his mum had just been lying on and it took him 5 seconds to make up his mind. "I'm coming with you. Let's get my mum back."


End file.
